Lead Platform Engineer ($205K - $235K + Equity) Fast-growing DNA Sequencing Company

About the job

This role is being recruited by CoffeeSpace on behalf of an anonymous, bootstrapped DNA sequencing company with rapid growth and a strong market presence.

We’re identifying a small number of exceptional lead platform engineers from our network. If there’s a strong fit, we’ll introduce you directly to the leadership team.

Location: South San Francisco, CA / hybrid, with 3 days a week on-site

Compensation: $205K - $235K base + competitive equity

Employment type: Full-time

Visa: Visa sponsorship available on a case-by-case basis, including H1-B transfer

About the company

This company is renowned for its fast DNA sequencing services, achieving lightning-fast turnaround and publication-grade accuracy. The company has grown to $80M in annual revenue through word-of-mouth alone, without venture backing, and is currently experiencing 30% month-over-month growth.

Their operations involve shuttling terabytes of data from robots and sequencers into millions of bioinformatics tasks, supported by a robust compute cluster and significant AWS investment. Their clientele includes Nobel prize winners, biotech startups, and research labs worldwide.

About the role

As the Lead Platform Engineer, you will be the technical lead for the compute, data, AI, and security infrastructure supporting the sequencing operations.

What You’ll Do

• Own core services that orchestrate lab devices and manage the data ingestion pipeline
• Build cloud infrastructure and data pipelines for processing and delivering sequencing data
• Design systems to orchestrate bioinformatics tasks, including workflow orchestration and scheduling
• Develop AI infrastructure and internal tooling to support agentic systems for quality monitoring, logistics coordination, and adaptive bioinformatics analysis

Why This Role Is Compelling

• Join a fast-growing company with significant market traction and no venture backin
• Work on cutting-edge bioinformatics and AI infrastructure
• Directly impact the scientific community through innovative sequencing solutions
• Collaborate in a tight-knit, fast-paced environment with a motivated team

The Ideal Candidate

• 6+ years of experience in a technical leadership role
• Proficient in Python, AWS, Postgres, Kubernetes, Linux, and LLM tooling
• Enjoys high agency and ownership in projects
• Excited to learn from and contribute to scientific and biological domains
• Values clear communication and mentorship

This Role Is NOT For You If

• You prefer a purely internal engineering role with no cross-functional projects
• You are not interested in working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
• You require new visa sponsorship not covered by the company

Next steps

• 1. Apply via this LinkedIn job post
• 2. We’ll review and reach out if there’s a strong match
• 3. If aligned, we’ll introduce you directly to the team
• 4. If this role isn’t the right fit, we may suggest and make introductions to other high-signal startup roles we’re recruiting for, always with your permission

A quick note on authenticity

This is a real, active role that CoffeeSpace is recruiting for in close partnership with the hiring team. We don’t post speculative roles and work directly with teams on their actual hiring needs.